I'm sure many of you have came across the term "Kabedon" which has in fact, gained popularity and a humongous fanbase after the ever-so-popular "cicada block". Kabedon, or rather the concept of it, has wormed its way into our lives through the media and doesn't seem to want to find its way out anytime soon.

So, what is Kabedon? It's... this.

No, I'm just kidding. As tasty as that is, it's just a humorous way a Pixiv artist thought up to depict Kabedon in. Kabedon, when you analyze its words in Japanese, would mean Kabe (wall) and don (the sound of a hand hitting the wall, in this case). A play of words on "don" would mean a half rice half ingredients bowl of food you commonly see on menus in Japanese restaurants.

Actually, Kabedon is simply a scene where a person (usually female) is trapped against the wall by another person (usually a male). The trademark of Kabedon would be the moe situation when a sudden outstretched arm against the wall blocks the path of the first person, leading to a confrontation which is usually depicted as the blooming beginning of romance lately. Setting up event flags, anyone?

Sounds stupid? Really, it sounds more like something that stemmed from a robbery in some dark alleyway at night to me, which might very well be the first place Kabedon was "founded" before it took on its current role in romance, especially in fiction.

Similar to the cicada block, the main reasons why Kabedon took off as such a successful meme was because it is one, moe, two, moe and three, media exposure. Not only does it appear constantly in shoujo manga, anime, some J-drama, many Pixiv illustrators have taken it upon themselves to further promote the meme... albeit unintentionally.

Oh? Is this how you escape from a Kabedon?

In just the world of animation alone, directors have been playing around with the idea so much that it's nearly becoming a staple in shoujo-targeted series. Not only are there the everyday male-female Kabedon scenarios, there has also been quite a few male-male Kabedon scenes (kudos to Japan's booming BL industry).

Personally, I wouldn't find this to be a nice experience, especially if the person Kabedon-ing me is someone I don't know or am not comfortable with. And I'm sure that the reason this meme has continued on for so long would be attributed to the fact that most Japanese (or people who visit Japan) know that it isn't good to start Kabedon-ing random strangers on the street.

Or at least, they know it isn't normal.

But what if there are some who don't? Anime has a wide reach to audiences around the world, creating numerous misconceptions about Japan. Furthermore, the recent inclusions of this meme to J-Drama might increasingly blur the line between 2D and 3D.

How might this be a problem, you may ask? No one would actually do that in Japan, that's crazy!

Mangaka Spirits

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Milkcananime aims to increase the exposure of Anime, Manga and Japanese Culture through blogging and illustrative works. We want to contribute to the otaku community, and increase the level of love people have for anything Japanese!